The present invention is relative to a turret and to a firearm associated thereto and, in detail, it is relative to an assembly of turret and low radar reflection weapon.
It is known that one of the main distance identification techniques in the military field consists in identifying the source of a radar echo.
It is also a long time since it is know that military designers developed the stealth technology, which is linked to the reduction of the radar signature, i.e. the reflection of the incident radar wave; the stealth technology is connected, above all, to the particular shape that the objects designed for this purpose end up assuming, which made the study of this aspect of the technology very challenging. Together with the stealth technology, in terms of shapes, designers also tested radar-absorbent materials, the so-called RAMs, which can “capture” part of the energy (of a radio wave emitted by a radar) hitting them, in the same way in which a dark object “captures” the visible light of the sun, thus turning it into heat. In general, the above-mentioned materials are resins with particles of ferrite in suspension.
The radar signature of a body is typically identified by means of the so-called radar cross section a, which determines the power of the radio wave reflected by the target according to the following equation:
      P    r    =                              P          t                ⁢                  G          t                            4        ⁢        π        ⁢                                  ⁢                  r          2                      ⁢    σ    ⁢          1              4        ⁢        π        ⁢                                  ⁢                  r          2                      ⁢          A      eff      
Wherein:
Pt is the power [w] transmitted by a radar transmitter;
Gt is the gain of the transmitting radar antenna;
r is the distance [m] along a straight line between the transmitting radar and the target;
σ is the radar cross section [m2]
Aeff is the effective area [m2] of the receiving radar antenna (typically coinciding with the transmitting antenna).
It is also known that cannons, as well as many other large-caliber weapons, such as howitzers, four-barreled firearms, heavy submachine guns, are mounted on rotatory turrets, which are able to rotate around a rotation axis, which is substantially vertical, so as to allow an azimuthal rotation of the firearm. The firearm, furthermore, can also rotate in a zenithal direction.
It is also known that the shape of the turret is usually inefficient in terms of radar signature, since, due to constructive constraints, it cannot assume shapes that allow it to significantly reduce its signature.
Furthermore, the cannon presents clear limits in terms of the shape that can be obtained and of the materials that can be used, since its resistance and shape are defined by the function that it has to fulfill and by the thermal and mechanical stresses to which it is subject during the shooting operations.